REPORT OF THE SOCIETY y 



On the motion of Mr. Arthur Gibson and Dr. B. T. Dickson the Secretary- 

 was directed to send a telegram to Prof. Lochhead regretting his illness and 

 hoping for his speedy recovery. 



The Society delegated Prof. Maheux to interview the Minister and decide 

 on some definite policy regarding the supplying of separates to contributors. 



It was resolved that as far as funds are available the Society should 

 continue to make grants not exceeding fifty dollars in aid of investigations 

 on plant diseases caused by insects fungi or bacteria it being understood 

 that the report on such investigations shall be presented to the Society at its 

 Annual Meeting. 



SOME NEW VENTURES IN ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 

 By James G. Needham, 

 Prof, of Entomology and Limnology, Cornell University. 



In the economy of nature insects play a large part. I invite your attention 

 to their role as agents for the turnover of plant food materials. It is a double 

 role. In the first place they eat plant stuffs both living and dead more in the 

 aggregate than does any other class of animals and by the disintegration of 

 these stuffs they restore the organic materials of the world's food supply to 

 circulation. Thus they aid in the maintenance of a richer and more abundant 

 life upon the earth. In the second place they themselves become food for 

 the carnivores. Of the world's supply of flesh for land animals they are the 

 major part. Practically all land carnivores eat insects and some of them eat 

 mainly insects. Though insects are no part of our diet they have much to do 

 with the maintenance of our diet; and it is of the part they play as agents of 

 food turnover that I wish to speak. They directly feed some of the best of 

 our game birds and food fishes and are often the limiting factor in the pro- 

 duction of these choice human foods. 



Perhaps we may derive some useful ideas concerning animal forage by 

 recalling how the betterments in our own diet were made. 



Mankind at the first lived as do the wild beats on what nature furnished 

 ready made. All men were sheer exploiters. Then they learned the use of fire 

 for cooking and of simple tools for cntting and for crushing food products; 

 thereby they greatly increased the range and variety and value of their diet; 

 b«t they were still exploiters. Then they selected a few of the most useful 

 plants and animals and hy care and culture of them vastly increased their 

 product. This is the essence of agrzixlture. This laid the basis for our civilization 

 by providing a larger and more dependable food supply. This made possible 



